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How to keep mating nucs populated

I have had a real problem keeping mating nucs populated. I have shaken nurse bees, always fed, put in a pheromone, brought the nuc inside for 3 days then out to the mating yard, much to no avail. Most all bees leave if not in fact all. I have about 10% success. Anybody got any ideas what I could be doing wrong. I do better making splits and adding the cells that I graft, but that doesn't help if I want to sell queens.

Re: How to keep mating nucs populated

I read where someone said the way to do them is add the bees and queen cells at the same time and close them up for 3 days. Doing this at a time where the cells will hatch during the time the boxes are closed for the 3 days. Sounds like a good plan to me...

Re: How to keep mating nucs populated

I did the same thing but with package bees and it worked just fine. I would consider moving the nucs away from their yard of origin if they are re-orienting to the hives they were shaken from. I always lose a lot of bees to their original homes when I install in their home yard. Next time I shake bees it will be from an out-yard so I can compare.

Re: How to keep mating nucs populated

I only make up my nucs and mating nucs with nurse/house bees and brood of various stages, preferably emerging or near to emerging. I find it a waste of time to try to recruit foragers to nucs, since the nucs will develop their own foragers shortly anyway.

After trying mini mating nucs, I discovered that, for me, they were a waste of time and effort - I couldn't produce a mated laying queen with them, they would always abscond. Since 99% of my hives are all medium frames, I make my mating nucs as condo 3-frame and my regular nucs using one or more 5-frame medium nuc supers.

Re: How to keep mating nucs populated

I run all mediums. My mating nucs are all two frame medium nucs that take standard frames. I set up mating nucs by putting a frame of brood and a frame of honey and a shake of bees in each nuc. I tear them down in the fall by combining them or overwintering them. Nothing wasted.

Re: How to keep mating nucs populated

Originally Posted by Michael Bush

I run all mediums. My mating nucs are all two frame medium nucs that take standard frames. I set up mating nucs by putting a frame of brood and a frame of honey and a shake of bees in each nuc. I tear them down in the fall by combining them or overwintering them. Nothing wasted.

Re: How to keep mating nucs populated

Michael, thanks for the link. I am going to start doing it that way, it makes good sense. I like staying with all the same size equipment too. It makes it easier to swap frames around to different colonies.